Hair Tai
by 0neWhoWanders
Summary: It's not every day that Ruby Rose comes back home from school crying or Yang fuming in anger. But, it's up to Taiyang to do whatever he can to help his girls. Even if it means ruining his golden locks. One-shot


**What is this? A story on a Wednesday? Blasphemy! Well, this little one-shot came to me from a comment on Reddit by the Redditor GladiusNocturno. Hi! I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

It wasn't every day that Ruby Rose came back from school crying. The sounds of her sniffles were accompanied by the fuming mutterings of her elder sister who was massaging her wrist. Taiyang welcomed his daughters home and received a response her had come to expect. At least from his first.

"Welcome home girls, how was your day?" He asked as cheerful as he could. Anything to try and lift his daughters' spirits.

"Hi," Yang spat out, continuing to mutter to herself as she stomped her way up the stairs, followed by the telltale sound of her bedroom door being slammed shut.

Ruby however slowly removed her backpack; a red bag with a chain carrying a beaded rose she made in art class on one side and a smiley face button Tai had given her as a back-to-school gift on the other. Her sniffles continued, as much as she tried to hide them, wiping her wet nose on the sleeves of her much too long red hoodie.

"Hello daddy." Ruby said happily, her big, round, very expressive eyes telling a different story. "I had a good day at school. Mrs. Valkyrie let me play with the class hamster because I finished my work early."

Tai gave his daughter a big hug, letting her quiet tears land on his shoulder and soak into his shirt.

"Did something bad happen?" He tried.

He felt Ruby's forehead shake 'no'. She hugged a little tighter.

"You do know that I'm always here when you need me, right?"

Tai felt her nod, followed by another round of sniffles. Ruby extracted herself from her father's grasp and went upstairs, being careful not to trip on her long sleeves. Again. Tai listened to the sounds of her footsteps and then the gentle click of a door. With the sound of running water, Tai knew Ruby was taking a shower.

So, knowing that both his girls had a rough day, he got to work doing what any single father would do in such a situation. He preheated the oven and got to work making a batch of his late-wife's world-famous triple chocolate ooey-gooey peanut butter cookies; a double batch of course, for his youngest. And then got to work making a pot of macaroni and cheese, because as much as she refused to admit it, mac and cheese was still Yang's favourite meal and being a stubborn fourteen-year-old wasn't going to change that fact one bit.

Sliding the tray into the oven, he hummed to himself, listening to the shower continue trickling away upstairs. Finally, he heard Yang come back downstairs with a sheepish smile.

"Hey dad."

"Hey, my little dragon."

"Sorry about that," Yang rubbed the back of her neck, refusing to look Tai in the eye. "I got into a bit of a fight at school. It wasn't my fault, honest. Is that mac and cheese for dinner?"

"Any particular reason?" Tai raised a single eyebrow.

Yang gave a limp shrug as she mumbled, "well they started it by picking on Ruby."

"You defended your sister. I can't be mad at your for doing that. But maybe try using your words first next time. Or asking a teacher for help. Come 'ere."

Taiyang pulled Yang into tight hug and placed a gentle kiss in her hair.

"Thanks dad. But they did deserve it. They were being idiots."

"Hey, where did you learn swear words."

"Qrow. And dad, I'm fourteen, not twelve."

"Your sister is twelve."

Yang chuckled, "ya, and if she heard me swear she would pout and say I was using a meanie word."

Tai chuckled along with his daughter. It was true. For as brilliant and bright his youngest was, she still had a lot of development left to go.

"Would you mind getting your sister to help set the table? Dinner is almost ready."

Yang nodded and bounded back up the steps, leaving Tai to finish preparing the meal and pulling the tray of cookies out of the oven to let cool.

"Girls! Dinner is ready!" He called, wondering where the two had gone. He still heard the shower running. Peering up towards the stairs, he waited a moment. Nobody was coming down. "Hmm, what is Ruby doing in the shower for so long?"

Tai's footsteps are quiet as he heads to the bathroom door, giving it a soft knock. "Rubes? Are you okay in there?"

"I'm -I'm okay. I just need another minute." Came Ruby's voice with a squeak.

"You sure? You've been in there a long time." Tai's voice was as gentle as he could manage. Something was clearly going on.

Turning to see Yang with a sad look, he nodded his head towards the stairs, silently telling her to get herself some food while he handled this. Thankfully, Yang listened.

"Hey, Ruby? Can I come in?"

"NO!" Ruby shouted, not sounding happy at all.

"Ruby, I'm coming in." Hearing no complaints from the other side of the door, he twisted the knob and opened it slowly.

What he saw might have made him laugh if it weren't for the very sad, crying little girl sitting on the floor. The shower was full blast, but surrounding Ruby were bottles of yellow hair dye. Ruby was on the bathroom mat, naked and soaking, tears leaking from her eyes as wet water dripped from her shoulder length hair, which now had some streaks of colour.

Immediately, Tai sank to his knees, letting little Ruby crawl into his arms.

"What happened? Shh shh shh. It's alright. You're okay. You're okay," he cooed as she shook in his arms.

He let her cry herself out, waiting until her tears turned to sobs and then broke altogether. Finally thinking that she was ready to talk, he pulled away, looking her straight in the eyes, brushing away some multi-coloured hair out from her face.

"Are you okay? What were you doing to your beautiful hair?"

"I was changing it."

"Why would you change it? Don't you like it?"

Ruby looked down and shook her head. "I hate it."

"You love your hair, Ruby. It's just like mommy's."

"But mommy is gone and now all the boys at school laugh at me." She wiped a sniffle with the back of her hand.

"Why are they laughing?"

"You have blond hair and Yang has blonde hair. They are making fun of me and saying I'm adopted. That you aren't my daddy and Yang isn't really my big sister. You two look the same, but I'm… I'm different. I'm weird."

Tai pulled back in his daughter, carefully rubbing her back. "No, my dear, sweet baby girl. You aren't weird at all. You are perfect. You have your mother's hair and your mother's eyes. You should never be ashamed of them. And if they say otherwise, tell them that they are wrong. You are Ruby Rose. And nothing stands in the way of a Rose. Got that?"

Tai felt Ruby's giggle as much as she heard it.

"That's the girl I know and love. Why don't you hop into the shower and clean the dye from your hair and then come join us for supper? I made cookies for dessert."

Tai stood up and allowed his daughter some privacy in the bathroom once more. Only a few minutes later, they were all seated around the kitchen table, Ruby now back to her former perfect, happy self, giggling to a string of new puns from Yang, who was also happier now that Ruby was. Tai did have two amazing daughters.

But as they ate, a thought popped into his head. And as the night progressed, he couldn't seem to shake it. Actually, he kind of liked the idea. It was… it was growing on him.

He put Ruby to bed first, reading to her a story and then kissing her goodnight. He then shared his idea with Yang, who liked it, but decided not to join him in its completion. Something about her dying before she would ever change her hair. Tai truly believed her. He told her he was going out for a few minutes and to watch over Ruby until he got back, which of course she agreed to.

* * *

Taiyang Xiao-Long pulled up to the front of the school, turned off the engine and slowly got out of the car. It was a nice day, so he opened to door for Yang and Ruby to hop out of and walked them to the playground before the school bell rang and classes would begin.

He gave a big hug to his eldest, Yang, annoying her as he ruffled her hair before she could run off to talk with her friends. Then, with just his youngest in tow, he knelt down to her level and helped her re-shoulder her red backpack.

"Have a good day at school my little Rose." He ran a hand through her hair and down the side of her cheek. She giggled as it tickled her chin.

"Thanks daddy." She turned and walked off, towards her teacher who was waiting for her only a few steps away.

"Good morning Mr. Xiao Long." Mrs. Valkyrie said with a smile.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Tai?" The usual morning banter.

"Trying out a new hairstyle?"

Tai could only shrug, running a hand through his hair. The black locks gave way to red-tinted tips. A perfect mirror of his second daughter's. "If it works for Ruby, then who am I to complain?"

"Have a good day Ruby!" He called, as he stepped back to leave.

Ruby's bright smile and big wave was all he needed to see. He huffed out a small sigh and turned to go with a smile of his own.

Tai could feel the eyes of the boys in Ruby's class on his back, but he paid them no mind. Ruby was happy. And hair dye? Well, it was a small price to pay.

He chuckled to himself. "Hair Tai. Good one."


End file.
